Zwei Männer mit Nimben

1907

Gustav Klimt: mentor and patron

In 1907 Schiele sought out Gustav Klimt, who generously mentored younger artists: Klimt bought his drawings, offered to exchange them for some of his own, arranged models for him and introduced him to potential patrons and to the Wiener Werkstätte. Schiele’s earliest works of 1907–1909 show strong similarities with Klimt’s, as well as influences from Art Nouveau.

1908

The first exhibition, in Klosterneuburg

In 1908 Schiele’s first exhibition took place in the town of Klosterneuburg near Vienna, where he had earlier attended school.

1909

Leaves the Academy and founds the Neukunstgruppe

In 1909, after completing his third year, Schiele left the Academy and, with other dissatisfied students, founded the Neukunstgruppe (“New Art Group”). Imitations of Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka are visible in his first works, but he soon evolved his own distinctive style.

1909

The 1909 Kunstschau: beside Klimt and Van Gogh

In 1909 Klimt invited Schiele to exhibit some of his work at the Vienna Kunstschau, where he encountered the work of Edvard Munch, Jan Toorop, Vincent van Gogh and others.

1910

Experiments with the nude and the birth of a style

In 1910 Schiele began experimenting with nudes, and within a year a definitive style emerged: emaciated, sickly-coloured figures, often with strong sexual overtones. He also began painting and drawing children.

1911

Meets Wally Neuzil

In 1911, at the age of twenty-one, Schiele met the seventeen-year-old Wally Neuzil, who lived with him in Vienna and served as a model for some of his most striking paintings; she had previously modelled for Klimt.